During Sunday’s loss to the Steelers, New England receiver Josh Gordon didn’t do much, catching only one pass for 19 yards. More surprisingly, Gordon wasn’t on the field for the final play from scrimmage for a Patriots team trailing by seven.
It was fourth and 15 from the Steelers 21, a snap that came after Pittsburgh called a timeout. But there was no Gordon among the targets available to Tom Brady.
“We had just kind of run quite a few plays in a row,” offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said Tuesday when asked about the situation by reporters. “I know there was a timeout there before that. Both of those guys have worked at that spot and in that type of a situation, and based on what we were doing, we made the choice to go with [Cordarrelle Patterson] at that point -- no ulterior motive on that at all. Just put a fresh guy in to go in there and do something on the last play to see if we could get into the end zone, and it is what it is.”
It was what it was, a failed effort to tie the game, and an outcome that has many wondering whether the Patriots have lost their mojo. From the collapse of situational football against the Dolphins to the undisciplined play against the Steelers (14 penalties is a staggering amount of flags for a Bill Belichick team) to increasing questions about Father Time making his final kick toward Tom Brady, the Patriots are now guaranteed to have fewer than 12 wins for the first time since 2009, and they’re in danger of not having a bye for the first time since that same season.
